Prostitute to sue brothel over gun

By Julia Medew

July 13, 2011 — 12.00am

A PROSTITUTE who had a gun pulled on her for refusing to have unprotected sex plans to sue a suburban brothel for failing to protect her.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said her former workplace, ''Butterflys of Blackburn'', had turned a blind eye to workers having unprotected sex, creating false expectations and a sense of entitlement among clients.

It also failed to video record people coming and going from the premises and did not have security guards.

She said this partly led to a man assaulting her last August when she persistently refused to have sex with him without a condom. She said her refusal caused the man to aggressively grab her, flip her onto her back and attempt to rape her. Although she escaped, the man pulled out a gun before leaving and threatened her.

''He pointed it at my head and said he could do anything to me. He said, 'No one can stop me','' she said.

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The woman has since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, whiplash in her neck and a torn muscle in her shoulder.

She said although other brothels provided excellent security for their workers, Butterflys had allowed workers to charge extra for unprotected sex, creating an impression that clients could get whatever they wanted.

''It never used to be a big issue … but about 12 months before I got attacked, it became a regular occurrence. More and more guys were coming in asking for sex without a condom. They were under the impression that most of the girls in that place would do it,'' she said.

''If they didn't let that happen, I wouldn't have been attacked.''

While it is illegal for people to have unprotected sex in brothels, Butterflys' website says its aim is to provide clientele with ''everything they may desire and more''.

Management did not return calls from The Age.

The woman recently won a workcover claim to have her medical expenses covered and to be paid $1000 a week - her average weekly earnings before the incident. She is also applying for compensation for permanent impairment through the WorkCover Authority's no fault scheme and plans to sue the brothel for failing to provide a safe workplace.

Her lawyer, Rhiannon Reid, of Maurice Blackburn, said her client had struggled to establish a workcover claim because of the industry she worked in. She encouraged other sex workers to speak up if they had had similar experiences.

''It doesn't matter whether you work in a bank or a brothel, everyone has the right to feel safe at work'', she said.

Under Victorian law, it is an offence to provide sex work services without taking all reasonable steps to ensure that a condom or other appropriate barrier is used. It is also an offence for a brothel owner to permit a sex worker to work while infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

A government spokeswoman said Consumer Affairs Victoria had conducted 87 inspections of licensed brothels in the past financial year and found ''a small number'' of breaches of safe-sex requirements, mostly relating to signage. All breaches detected were resolved through warning letters and follow up inspections, the spokeswoman said.

The case comes after The Age reported in May that Victorian Health Minister David Davis was being urged to decrease the frequency of sexually transmitted infection tests for prostitutes who work in legal brothels.

It was argued that monthly tests were not required because unprotected sex was uncommon.